FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT OFFERINGS - PAGE 3

NEW DELHI: Led by the mega issue of state-run NMDC, three companies will open their public offerings this week, setting the tone for the overall market sentiment. NMDC -- the country's largest iron ore producer -- is coming out with its follow-on public offer (FPO) of over 33 crore shares or 8.38 per cent stake. The issue opens on March 10 and closes on March 12. The public issue of NMDC Ltd is expected to mop up about Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore.

MUMBAI: The Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) in its recent meeting has cleared new norms for faster clearance of qualified institutional placements (QIPs), widely used by corporates to raise money from the capital market. The new norms are expected to be in place by the end of this month. "We will have the entire framework in place when the board approves the proposal. It is expected to come by the month-end," said capital market regulator Sebi chairman M Damodaran at a Ficci-IIFT symposium on Tuesday.

Mercedes-Benz and Audi plan to double their US diesel offerings to attract American luxury buyers ranging from superstar Cher to military man Tom Brown as the technology shakes off its soot-sullied past. Cher tested a Mercedes diesel after rejecting hybrids, while Brown, a 57-year-old retired Navy lieutenant commander, is a buyer. He picked up a Mercedes E-Class diesel in October, his third car powered by the fuel. "I started out with a diesel tractor," said Brown, who lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

JAMMU: Nearly 22 per cent of 193 kgs of gold offerings and 70 per cent of 8,163 kgs of silver offerings by devotees at Vaishnodevi shrine during last five years have been found to be "impure", according to the shrine board. "As many as 78 per cent of 193.5 kg of yellow metal and 30 per cent of 8,163 kgs of white metal offered by devotees at cave shrine of Mata Vaishnodevi during last five years is pure gold and silver respectively," Chief Executive officer (CEO), Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board (SMVDSB)

SHIRDI/MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court today stayed Shri Saibaba Sansthan's decision to put on auction gold, silver and diamond articles it received in offerings from devotees. The bidding for the offerings was to be held in three phases beginning October 18. The stay was granted by Justice Naresh Patil and Justice A B Choudhari of the Aurangabad bench of the High Court on a petition filed by Rajendra Gondkar and Sandeep Kulkarni. The petitioners submitted that the new managing committee of the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan appointed by the High Court recently had not obtained permission from the Court to hold the auction.

KOLKATA: There is nothing called blind faith in a slowdown, as the most popular gods in the country have realised in recent months, with a fall in gold offerings by devotees. Gold collections have dropped in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati temple , Kerala's Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Guruvayur Temple, and Mumbai's Siddhivinayak Temple over the past six months as prices of the yellow metal shot up almost 11% to more than Rs 28,000 per 10 gm. "Gold collections have dropped 10% over the last six months possibly due to surging gold prices ," says Bhaskara Reddy, financial advisor and chief accounts officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Trust, which runs the Sri Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati.

TIRUPATI: Devotees of Lord Venkateswara of the famous hill shrine at nearby Tirumala can soon make their cash offerings using their mobile phones. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the cash-rich temple, is all set to introduce a 'mobile phone Hundi' that would enable the devotees to send their offerings using the balance in their pre-paid account, top TTD officials told reporters here. Under the system, to be implemented in association with a private company and a nationalised bank, the amount offered to the Lord would be debited from the balance available in the devotee's pre-paid account and credited to TTD Mobile Phone Hundi bank account, TTD Board Chairman K Bapiraju and Executive Officer L V Subrahmanyam said.

MUMBAI: The divestment overseas investors , as it faces competition from large-sized China is almost thrice the size of Indian government's divestment target of Rs 40,000 crore for the current financial year. "The first half (of 2010) was a lean period for share offerings globally. But with sentiment stabilising somewhat, there is a rush to raise money," said the head of equity capital markets at a foreign bank. Two mega-sized issues from Asia will be on offer sometime between July and September.

NEW DELHI: India Inc raised Rs 46,778 crore through the public equity offerings in the current financial year, 23 times higher than Rs 2,034 crore mopped up in the last fiscal, a study says. According to an analysis by Prime Database, which tracks primary capital market, companies raised a whopping Rs 46,778 crore in 2009-10 through the public offerings dominated by the state-run firms, which raised Rs 30,942 crore or 66 per cent of the total amount. The mobilisation in the year could have been higher but due to the continuing volatility in the secondary market and poor post-IPO performance of some companies in the early part of the fiscal, fund raising plan failed to breach the record level of Rs 52,219 crore raised in 2007-08.

NEW DELHI: You can buy a Maybach, holiday at the French Riviera this summer and shop at Versace if you have the money. But mere cash won't allow you entry into the 'By Invitation Only' products and services segment, which has evolved in the market place to give consumer aspirations an unparalleled edge. These exclusive offerings are designed to cater to the needs of the high net worth individual who has money, social position and the right personal profile ? along with a penchant to spend a little extra for a lark.